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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
 ·Cricket Broadband
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Well I'm still here, and still experiencing poor SD and HD picture quality on Fios TV in the Philadelphia area. They sent a tech out, and they confirmed that the equipment at my home, and the relative RF signal, and Fiber light levels are operating properly, and exactly where they should be, and they agree that there is a network related video problem that can be seen at my home.
They actually saw it on my 40" Samsung LCD, 27" Sony CRT, 20" Panasonic CRT, and 20" Sony CRT.
This upcomming Wednesday, June 20, will mark 1 month with an unacceptable FiosTV picture.
IF you are not served from the Philly headend, this is not your problem. Please 'brainfilter' my post.
Suggestions that a $2500 1080p set be hooked up via S-video cables(480i) instead of component or HDMI to alleviate the obvious problem, is an unacceptable answer, at any level of conscious thought.
Hmmm, the idea that if they downscan it, re-interlace it, then they won't see it, is complete BS!!!!
Of course HD at 480i won't show any negative picture problems, because you are not looking at HD anymore.
Would you expect to have to hook up an expensive NEW HDTV using S-Video cables, just to get a watchable picture????
I bought a JVC S-VHS VCR in 1991, S-Video is easily a 16 YEAR OLD 'analog' TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE!!! So WHY IS VERIZON SUGGESTING USING IT FOR 'digital' HDTV????
I constantly am told by Verizon that they are taking this seriously, that their top level video engineers are working hard at troubleshooting the issue.
These same 'tier 3' engineers are still guessing, nearly a full month later, and unless someone keeps this topic open, I fear they will NEVER figure out what is going on.
Whether it is only affecting one, three, five, or everyone, it is still a problem.
A problem that they can't comprehend, or perhaps they don't want to.
I just today received the first actually 'correct' bill in the past 3 months(an F'ing Christmas Miracle), which reiterates the cruel reality that I am still PAYING for this crappy picture quality. I ask a simple question to anyone, If you have seen the same issue at your home, why do you continue to pay for this??
I see the problem, their techs sees the problem, they acknowledge they are actively troubleshooting a problem, but nothing ever changes, and they are still billing me for this!!!
I beg anyone that has seen this issue in the Philadelphia area to call and complain.
Whether you saw it once for a few minutes, every few days, only on weekends, only on a few channels, only on one channel, or experiencing a constantly blurred, artifacted, pixelated, fuzzy, cloudy, downscanned, washed-out picture, please call this in.
If they can't comprehend the problem, they will never be able to fix it.
They sent one of their top video engineers to JeepMatt's place, but I have asked the same person to check on the problem at my home, and Verizon does not seem interested in pursuing this any further.
So, I stand at a point that I absolutely L-O-A-T-H-E Comcast, and Dish Network is hopelessly overcompressed, in their relentless pursuit of providing local channels to every possible 'postage stamp' of a DMA.
Both DirecTV and Dish Network are also conveniently 'randomly obstructed' by large trees in a neighbors yard. Even my old C-Band 9' dish has fallen prey to my neighbors ever growing tree foliage over the past 12 years.
So Verizon is my only hope for reliable cable TV programming, and they apparently can't make it happen anymore.
My Fios POTS and Internet are now performing flawlessly since late February, and I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND Fios Internet and POTS to anyone that has it available to them.
Really, go for it, it's awesome!!! Verizon's techs are great people, really busting their A$$ to keep the customers happy.
But it seems that they can't get the TV service back to what it was prior to 5/20/2007, and it really sucks.
WTF Verizon??? Just fix the damn thing !!!! | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Keep us posted. You are getting unacceptable answers and even if you hate Comcast, their picture has to be better than what you are getting now. If you get nowhere after a few more weeks I would switch. What's the sense in keeping an unacceptable picture quality?? Good luck, let us know. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | 
Well KA, if it's not fixed soon based on the analysis WE provided them Thursday, then who knows. I know we're on an "advanced fiber-optic system", but 4 weeks already? I can't wait to get that $118 credit on my account. 
As they said in a Dilbert comic a few months back, it's like 10 drunken monkeys trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle.
If you know Point A is the source, which is then sent to Points B, C, and D.
And Points B and D are fine but not C, you'd think it would explain some things - maybe like hmmmm...there's an issue in between A and C? Hmmmm.
But i'm hittin' the shore this weekend, so I could care less how crappy the pic is the next 2 days.
Matcarl-
You'd be surprised how bad the Comcast pic is around this area as well. I just saw it again Thursday night. Blech.  | |
| | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by JeepMatt  :You'd be surprised how bad the Comcast pic is around this area as well. I just saw it again Thursday night. Blech. With that I'll agree wholeheartedly. Comcast around here really is crap.
And Matt, I'll continue to keep an eye out for the problem on my TV, and I can't believe they told you to use the S-video connection. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by JPL : and I can't believe they told you to use the S-video connection. Oops...VZ's secret to good television quality is out.
I mean, if this was a high priority - based on the info we gave them around lunch time Thursday - this should've been corrected even by today.
The funny thing is, i'm now getting IM's that truck rolls are now being done in DE b/c people are seeing "lousy SD quality". SO maybe now that they're losing more money b/c of this by tying up technicians, they'll get the point.
Yeah, use your S-Video cables folks. | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | I'll be in PA for a couple days next week in the Strasburg/Lancaster area. I'll check out the Comcast analog channels at the hotel | |
| | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia First off, my apologies - I confused Matt with K. Second matcarl, yeah, you'll see just how good it can be. Verizon would have to get mighty crappy for me to even consider switching to Comcast. A couple years ago, I went to help a neighbor with a computer issue. He had the Eagles game on in his den, and I swear I thought he was watching it with an antenna - static and snow all over the place. It seems that they reserve the "best" for their own backyard. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia JPL, at least Verizon's boxes and DVR's keep sync.
My neighborhood is a product of the wildly popular suburban sprawl, and what was then Suburban(or Sub-Human)Cable decided NOT to run new TV lines in my part of the development. My yard abuts a wooded area between me and the neighbors behind me. They decided to just run longer drop lines through the woods, and back to their original tap, and for me that cable run is almost 350 feet. Even using RG11 coax, I could only get around -10db of signal at the house.
Comcast's subsequent rebuild from a 450MHz to an 870MHz system, and still keeping the same distance from the tap really finished them off.
They said they would move the tap closer, but it would cost me over $2000 to do so, and even then, it would take almost 6 months to get the work order pushed through, because it would involve re-engineering the entire cable plant around me, not just simply burying the new hardline and moving a tap
Sure a 15db amplifier at the house brings me back to an acceptable level, but it also adds 3-5db of noise at the same time. I used to experience lots of freeze ups and video drop outs. My cable modem(cable mayhem)would see the signal dive from +5db at night, to -15 during the day, just due to the warming up of the cables and electronics between my home and the 'node'.
Comcast always said that they could not guarantee me any Quality of Service beyond 300 feet from the tap, so I moved to Dish network. Dish itself is quite over compressed, and I don't have many mounting options to get a clear aim with it, so I could not wait to get FiosTV installed.
As was the data service, I was the first video install in my neighborhood. When they installed the Fios data in Sept. 2005, the tech made a big deal that I was on the 1st port of the 1st splitter in the FDH serving the area of several hundred homes around me, so call me an early adopter, or beta tester if you will.
Believe me, I have gone through all the growing pains that Verizon has, to get to where I am now, and with every passing day, this grows ever more frustrating.
Other than the service problems that I experienced in February, and some annoying billing errors, which it looks like they have finally fixed, the FiosTv service has been great, up until the equipment failure at the Philly headend during the weekend of May 19-20.
Since then the picture quality has not been the same as it used to be.
I still don't understand why some people around Philly see the problem and some do not.
I do understand that not everyone has a decent sized HDTV set to look at, so the PQ problem is likely not so evident, but in 4:3 mode, my 40" set yields a 32" picture(measured diagonally), and the decrease in picture quality is quite obvious.
It's not like I'm trying to watch SD video on a 102" screen or anything.
I have seen the picture quality vary from almost perfect, to worse than ever, so this is a variable problem, and I intend to keep after them until a resolution can be found. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Well-
I'm now convinced I have shit luck with companies ending in "izon".
Right as I was about to leave for the shore today (with friends' housesitting the dog the next 2 days) - I noticed the Central air wasn't turning on.
Turns out my compressor blew (after only 2 years of a brand new $4500 Trane AC) from Horizon.
So, now my AC from "Hor-izon" is f'd, as is my TV from "Ver-izon" - and i'll be out $1100 - and w/o air conditioning (with 4 days of 90+ degree weather coming) until the part gets in and they install it.
The joys of being a home owner. 
So, I sat and watched a DVR'd episode of Top Chef w/ my friends - the Bravo picture from the other night was so bad it jumped all over the screen. My friends were like, what's wrong with your TV? Exactly...
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Compressors are guaranteed for 5-10 years. Trane is a good brand too. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia If anyone wants an idea of HOW BAD our TV actually is.
Right now, on USA - Sweet Home Alabama is on.
You can't even make out Reece Witherspoon's face. It's like an Atari 2600 video game.
This is the SHIT we've dealt with for 4 weeks now. And VZ supposedly can't find the problem. And you wonder why KA and me are pulling our hair out???
No wonder i'm drinking so much!
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia I just put USA on now and it looks like it's in HD it's so clear.  | |
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CeeZee
join:2007-04-11
Wynnewood, PA | Clear as a bell here too. But when I checked USA at 7:00, exactly when you posted JeepMatt, and Sweet Home Alabama isn't on. Had you recorded it? | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia I found that odd too that he said that. That wasn't what was showing. Maybe that hot temperature in his house with the broken A/C has him seeing things on his broken TV. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia It was on UP TO 7:00pm. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
·Verizon FIOS
| said by matcarl : "Maybe that hot temperature in his house with the broken A/C has him seeing things on his broken TV" matcarl, I don't think Jeepmatt has a broken TV, as the video problems are more widespread than you might think.
But he obviously has a broken Air Conditioner.
I can't seem to find AirConditionerReports.Com, so he has a right to bitch about it somewhere.
Tomorrow and into the next week, we are looking at +90 temperatures. So no A/C sucks.
Jeep, Trane(cheap version of American Standard), has a 10 year compressor warranty on their A/C systems.
They have offered that for many years. So it looks like you are covered!!!
Please don't let some 3rd rate Trane distributor shove the cost of a compressor failure down your throat.
Unfortunately, the parts are covered for 10 years, but the Labor is NOT. The labor cost should not kill you though.
4 bolts and some copper tube brazing should not = $1000+
They can still reclaim the refrigerant, be it R-22 or R-410, so they should not have to charge you for that either.
Just consider an annual maintenance contract going forward.
It offers a little piece of mind.
Sorry, but in the end, the *.*-IZON companies have you.
You have been assimilated.
Thank you for choosing the BORG!!! | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia KA,
I'm well aware of the problems both you and Jeep are experiencing. I know it's not his TV, I was joking with him. I have IM'd both of you with my support of your problem and hope it gets resolved soon. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia You guys crack me up!
Yeah KA - the parts are covered by my warranty - apparently the labor is that much! No worries, i'll be negotiating that estimate...
At least my TV pic still looks the same this morning...
Every morning I wake up and see they've made no attempt at late-night maintenance, it sickens me more and more.
I think the only engineers looking into this are the ones that drive Septa trains. | |
| | | | | | | | | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by JeepMatt :Yeah KA - the parts are covered by my warranty - apparently the labor is that much! No worries, i'll be negotiating that estimate... No worries... except for the fact that it's going to be in the 90's for the next couple days  I'm sure they'll cover it, but you may be waiting a while for the repairman to come out to fix it - I get a feeling they're going to be really busy over the next couple days (like the time my furnace gave out, when the temperature plunged to close to single digits a couple years ago - that was the longest 2 days I'd been through). I hope they're faster at fixing your AC than Verizon has been at fixing your TV. | |
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Thespis
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
Premium
join:2004-08-03
Keller, TX
| quote:
Trane(cheap version of American Standard)
Sorry for the hijack, but Trane has been around for over 60 years and was acquired by American Standard in the 80's. Trane doesn't make a cheap version of anything. In fact, the American Standard brand is going away in favor of the Trane brand.
Again, my apologies. Back to your discussion... | |
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GeekNJ
Premium
join:2000-09-23
Waldwick, NJ
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by JeepMatt :Another hijack - is anyone seeing MAJOR pixilation this morning on ESPN2 HD? I'm not but it's after 11am so it's showing some SD program now. | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Ka & JPL:
Why don't you two exchange addresses? JPL could see the bad reception you are experiencing so he knows what you are talking about. | |
| | | | | | | | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | said by JeepMatt :If anyone wants an idea of HOW BAD our TV actually is. Right now, on USA - Sweet Home Alabama is on. You can't even make out Reece Witherspoon's face. It's like an Atari 2600 video game. This is the SHIT we've dealt with for 4 weeks now. And VZ supposedly can't find the problem. And you wonder why KA and me are pulling our hair out??? No wonder i'm drinking so much! Ok, now I know we're definitely not seeing the problem you are. I watched a chunk of that movie at the same time yesterday, and it looked fine to me. As good as a movie on USA can look.
Edit - wait a sec... maybe it wasn't that showing I was watching... they've been showing that movie so much lately that I lost track - I remember seeing it on the guide yesterday, but I think I watched it on Friday night... not yesterday. Still everything I watched yesterday looked great. We went to a friend's house last night for a graduation party. They have Comcast with a 50+" HD TV. He had the Phillies game on CSN HD, and it looked dull - if it wasn't in widescreen I would never have known it was in HD. I came home and just started flipping around - my SD looked sharper and clearer than his HD. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by JPL :Ok, now I know we're definitely not seeing the problem you are. You got it JPL - they're not seeing it in Wayne either. The person that came by my home Thursday verified that as well. So as I said earlier - it's definitely an issue between the VHO and me and KA and whoever else is seeing it - and NOT everyone out of the Philly VHO. (See my Points A,B,C,D explanation above)
As KA mentioned earlier, they keep stressing to us that "it's being taken seriously" - but we don't get any updates at all - unless we bitch and prod for one - and those updates are merely, "we're still trouble-shooting". | |
| | | | | | | | | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia One thing that really surprises me is that both me and K are in West Chester. Granted the WC area is a little spread out, and really encompasses more than just the city itself, so I guess it's technically possible that you and he are both fed out of the same office, while I'm fed out of a different office (if I understand how all these feeds work, that is - I'm basically talking out of my you-know-what on this). Some of what you've described in this thread really sounds horrible. For example when I have folks come over I usually get "man you're picture looks so CLEAR" not "what the hell's wrong with your TV, dude?"
I have to say, I REALLY noticed it last night coming back from my friend's house. He has a really nice TV, so I don't think it's that - it's gotta be that Comcast is still that crappy. I swear my SD looked better than his HD. In fact, while the game was on at his house, the feed flipped to SD mode - during a commercial, or it may have been highlights of another game during a break. You know I could see zero difference between the HD feed and the SD - the HD was THAT bad. When I put on my HD it's obvious. It smacks you upside the head - especially on channels like Discovery HD, and NGC HD (even, ironically, CSN HD, which I think has a really nice picture) - it's so clear. The difference is obvious - you KNOW you're watching HD, and it's not just because it kicks into widescreen mode (some of those channels have the annoying habit of stretching their SD commercials to fill the screen. I really wish they would stop that). | |
| | | | | | | | | | hopdevil
join:2005-11-28
Chester Springs, PA | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Been following the saga of pixelation the past few weeks and just wanted to let you know that everything's fine here in the Exton/Chester Springs, PA area. I haven't noticed any signal degradation since I had the service installed in April. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Well, no new updates this morning - other than the SD pic quality is exceptionally bad this morning - even on my 30" TV.
Wow - guess they really can't find the problem!
Oh, but wait-
My ESPN2-HD finally stopped pixellating! WOOHOO!
I do want to thank all the others in the area that have been private messaging me with your location and issue as well. It's good info for me to pass on so that they do realize it's more than just me that's having problems. No worries - I will be your leader. | |
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GeekNJ
Premium
join:2000-09-23
Waldwick, NJ | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia I'm telling you, it would be less stessful for you if you just moved to NJ. An added benefit are all the good sports teams we support | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Geek-
Please thank your Mets for giving us back 6 games in the standings.
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia For anyone in my area right now - at 2pm -
On Food Network (144) - Emeril's face looks like it's on fire right now. All grainy, rounded - and blurry - you can barely make out his features.
For some reason the pic has been "extra" bad today.
This is what we've dealt with for a month now. Variably changing, compressed, grainy PQ that they can't figure out.
At least my AC finally got repaired today.
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
| | | | | | | | | | Motortree
join:2007-06-09
Melrose, MA
| In your STB, press power then menu within two seconds. Arrow down to the 4x3 override setting and set it to 480i. Don't set it to 480p or strecth. You may not want to do this but....it will improve the picture quality a bit. Vertical lines during fast motion etc. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Motor-
Thanks, but that's the setting i've been on since january.
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"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
·Verizon FIOS
| said by Motortree :In your STB, press power then menu within two seconds. Arrow down to the 4x3 override setting and set it to 480i. Don't set it to 480p or stretch. You may not want to do this but....it will improve the picture quality a bit. Vertical lines during fast motion etc. Motortree, I keep the 4:3 override turned off altogether. My set does not support 480i 'override' via the HDMI cable, just 480p or stretch, both of which don't look right being zoomed of stretched.
I guess it does not want to re-interlace 480p or 720p back to 4801. I keep it turned off and I get a 4:3 box with the side bars showing as black, it is true 4:3 giving me about a 33" diagonal picture while watching SDTV. The set automatically switches to 16:9 when the received video format switches.
I have an active cablecard in the set, so I can receive everything without a separate box, although I still have a HD-DVR attached via HDMI, giving me the ability to do HD Picture In Picture, or record 2 shows while watching a third.
The cablecard does not provide VOD capabilities, or an interactive program guide, but I can always check the guide on the DVR as a reference, then tune the channel I want to.
I have the TV hooked to an off-air antenna so I can A/B between Fios and broadcast TV, and there is a fairly obvious difference between off-air(Best) to Fios via cablecard(not quite best) to Fios through the Motorola DVR(fair to Poor).
So there could be some issues with the DVR's, but I have 3 of them and already switched them around the house with no improvment, and I don't see how I could magically have 3 DVR's go bad the same way, simultaneously, on May 19,2007. 
The set is only 4 months old, and was Samsung's top of the line 40" LCD when I bought it. Nearly $3000 it cost me.
A true 1080p capable set (1920/1080p), although I don't have any 1080p sources yet, maybe HD/DVD iin the future...
It supports 2 HDMI, 2 Component, 1 S-Video, 3 Composite, 2 1394 Firewire, and a HD15 PC VGA Input. Plus an NTSC/ATSC RF tuner input, and a QAM RF tuner input. It has a Dolby Digital S/PDIF optical out to feed a home theater receiver.
Heres the spec sheet if anyone wants to look: »www.samsung.com/Products/TV/LCDT···inal.pdf
I have tried several HDMI cables, Component Cables, S-Video cables. Nothing ever makes a difference, other than you can't get HD via Composite or S-Video cable.
14 years ago I discovered the perfect analog picture via C-band satellite. My 10' C-band dish still stands in my backyard, as a monument as to what was.
Analog satellite employs FM for video transmission, instead of the AM NTSC(never the same color) broadcast video we all know and hate. As long as the signal is strong enough, the FM video is essentially immune to noise and distortion as conventional AM analog video.
As long as the signal was full quieting, I had the same 'studio grade' picture quality that was being delivered to broadcast stations and cable operators. Along with an S-VHS VCR I had the best PQ available in the pre-HD days.
I got that back when I first hooked my HD set up to FIoS, but somewhere since 5/19/2007, that PQ has slipped away.
I can even see the PQ diminished on a 27" Sony CRT, so I won't accept any suggestions that there is a problem with my HD set.
I have NOT re-adjusted ANYTHING on my TV, and all the signal levels, equipment operation has since then been verified OK by a Verizon tech, and they agreed that the picture does not look like it's supposed to, and a month later, still no one can tell me why.
They want to waste more of my time for another look.
Well their engineer is supposed to be showing up Tuesday evening to take another look, Both myself AND my wife will be here to see what they have to say.
She is more mad than I am, and has been telling me to just cancel the Fios TV service and go back to Dish Network or DirecTV.
Even my kids complain about something wrong with the TV picture.
I ask that they review my service account records before arriving, to note that they are the 14th
(YES, F-O-U-R-T-E-E-N-T-H) , separate Verizon visit to my home since February 2007.
I have my erroneous $1380.45 FiOS bill on hand to show them too.
It would be nice to finally hear from someone face to face as to why they don't want my business!
I hope they can give me a good answer, or they can gather up any equipment that they want, and I will show them the door.
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noping
no route to host
Premium
join:2007-01-09
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | I'm still seeing garbage on random SD channels. HBO, Cartoon Network (shut up, I can hear you snickering, stop it), USA Network, others. "Flickering," "shifting," "fuzzy," I don't know the best terms to describe the problem - it's there, I see it, other people have seen it on these television sets, it wasn't like this when I signed up months ago.
I've been told that they want to send yet another person out. I'm not going to waste more time for yet another truck roll - I'm not going to take off work (again) and I'm not going to have my precious weekend wasted. Also, there's the fact that I've been told by a particular someone in this household to drop the matter entirely. Truthfully, at this point, I've pretty much stopped caring.
Strangely enough, I've finding myself spending less time watching television and more time on working on my computer instead.
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"Why are we hiding from the police, daddy?" "Because they use Emacs, son. We use vi." | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Well he's in Texas - and that sounds more like something very local to him - maybe at his CO.
But, I do feel for him.
--
"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
| | justin9876
join:2006-04-21
Keller, TX
| Have you looked at the news today? There is flooding all over North Cental Texas last night and today. Anywhere from 3 inches to 8.5 inches in two hours have been reported. People have drowned, been rescued from rooftops and stalled cars, etc. I'm lucky, I only have fencing down, a flooded swimming pool, and a workshop with water in it. But my FiOS TV, internet, and phone are working....
I think everyone in our area should cut all of the utility companies, including Verizon, some slack right now.
--
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV and Internet
Motorola QIP6416 HD DVR
Sony KDL-V40XBR1 | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia I've received some interesting information today - it has been confirmed that KA in West Chester and myself here in Delaware ARE fed from A DIFFERENT part of the fiber ring out of the Philly VHO than other areas - which would explain why say, users in Wayne, PA and other areas are not seeing the problem (Geek Girl, etc.)
Ironically, we've been trying to tell them this for the past 2 weeks. With the amount of real-time customer data we're providing them - you would've thought this should have been fixed weeks ago.
The downside to this is - Verizon will still not acknowledge there is a problem since "they cannot recreate" what we are all seeing in our homes - and apparently is still thinking the issue is the "scaler" in my plasma. This is so rediculous.
I guess KA's TV decided to go to shit 4 weeks ago, along with my other TV upstairs, Noping's TV, H8's TV down in Middletown, etc - wow - it's so ironic that all of our TV's went south after the big outage, on the same day, and at the same time - and we're all seeing the same characteristics!
Another thing that sucks is that even my locals look awful. I can barely watch Channel 6 or 10. | |
| jalfred
join:2001-12-02
Wilmington, DE
1 edit | Jeep, I am in N Wilmington myself. Had a few issues with graininess on a few channels a couple weeks back. But I am now crystal clear, with no picture quality issues.
It is probably safe to say that we are served from the same location.
I can check PQ on specific channels if you drop me a line when you see them.
my set is a 42" Samsung Plasma. | |
| Tiggntaz
join:2007-05-08
Saint Augustine, FL | I have both Comcast and Verizon Fios. I am getting Ghosting and just plain crappy pic on the Verizon.
Waiting for the tech this saturday | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
1 edit | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia
You seeing this on your local's and SD's?
If so, tech's not going to be able to fix anything -
Just a hint.
--
"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
| jalfred
join:2001-12-02
Wilmington, DE | Checked out ch 144, (2:40 pm) - it is not as sharp as it has been, but certainly not as bad as you are seeing it. I'd give it an 8 out of 10. | |
| | | njchoochoo
Premium
join:2007-06-21
Atco, NJ
| I started my FiOS service on June 1, the first day it was available here in South Jersey.(Berlin area) I have been dealing with the techs and trying to explain to them that the Verizon PQ on both HD and SD is worse than I had before I left Comcast. So far, nobody has been able to get me any answers as to why that is. It's nice to see, from a not being alone in this point of view, that I'm not the only one experiencing issues with PQ. Also, I too have been experience pixelation issues with a few channels. I am coming close to my 30 day mark, and may have to take my TV service back to where it was if they can't get me some type of answers. So far, no luck in that department.
So, here is another voice to add to the apparently many in South Jersey that are having PQ issues. | |
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See 26 replies to this post | |
JWhip
@verizon.net
| Just to clear up a point here but the problem with MHD lies with MHD not Verizon. People around the country with difference service providers are reporting the same issues with MHD. Another problem is the fact that people are now looking for issues are are seeing them when the didn't before simplay beciase they are looking for them. (Many are MPEG2 issues with low bite rate feed) I too see variations with SD content because they are present in the signals sent from the source. I saw them with Comcast and Directv and I see them with Verizon. These things are normal and are to be expected. There is no such thing as a perfect system or transmission. On the whole, the SD I get with Verizon is way better than I ever got with Comcast. The same thing is true of the HD. HBO on Verizon looks way better than I get with Directv and slightlu better than Comcast. CSN HD looks clear on Verizon than on Comcast, it is like a slight haze has been removed from the screen. On the whole, the HD is alittle better on Verizon across the board than Comcast. As far as Matt is concernied, I have seen his set up and there are issues there to be sure. I have spoken to the same tier 3 people as he has and they don't see a problem. There is one and I am sure it is an easy fix. Perhaps it is the feeder line to that area or a malfunctional applifier. It is not his TV however and not his box. Hopefully it will be fixed and soon. I have been dealing with HD since 1998. There are times that the enginners have to have open minds and think outside of the box to get issues resolved. Hopefully there will do so here. I have 3 HD sets, one CRT and 2 plasmas and the Verizon service looks great on all three. Hopefully | |
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jwhip
@verizon.net | Sorry for the spelling! | |
|
jwhip
@verizon.net
| Does anyone who is having PQ problems have a DVHS machine? It would seem logical for us to make recordings and compare them on the same set. I get great PQ here. We can record the same shows in SD and HD and play them on your set. If there is a problem and from my check into Jeepmatt's picture there sure is, this will reveal it to the FiOS techs. I will be hard to argue that it is your TV when tapes of the same program taped on diferent sections of thje system show very different results. My email is jawhip@mac.com. Please feel free to email me. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia JWhip, sorry, I don't own a D-VHS machine, I gave up on tape when my S-VHS machine died after 12 years of heavy use. Right about the time DVR's were becoming popular, and video rental stores had migrated to DVD from VHS tape.
I am working on being able to record to a PC via the Firewire port on the Fios DVR, as my TV has a firewire input also. My PC that is 5 feet away from the TV has 320 GB system drive, and a pair of 500GB drives strictly for storage, so it would give a very nice sized video archive to store and play back, or burn to HD-DVD-R or Blu-Rat-R when that option becomes affordable.
Thanks for the novel idea though !
If I look into going towards D-VHS, do you recommend any particular tape deck?? Are they specific to a special kind of tape?
I remember that the original S-VHS tapes were 5x the price of standard VHS tapes, but you could drill a hole in the standard tape housing where the S-Video tape detect switch was, and record S-VHS on any cheap standard VHS tape, and there was no real obvious difference in PQ.
I do remember if heavily used with non S-VHS tapes you had to clean the drum head more often because the azimuth was different to cover a wider swath of the tape during operation, and that the tapes wore out a little faster too.
But I am no stranger to TV/VCR repair, and a few foam swabs and a little TF solvent 2-3 times a year more than made up for spending more than $20 for a single T-120 S-VHS tape.
Thanks! | |
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jwhip
@verizon.net
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia I have a JVC and they can be had pretty cheaply on ebay. The tapes are pretty cheap and you can use SVHS tapes and record HD on them. The player records the data strem. I do prefer the Maxell DVHS tapes though and buy them online. You get arounf 2 1/2 hours of HD per tape. I have quite a collection of HD stored on tape. It is great to look back on some of the shows no longer around that look great in HD! Too bad you don't have one! I spoke with Brett at verizon at length about this issue for Matt with no luck. I believe there is a bad component in your network down there. I am not sure why they can't find it. Something is not working to spec. Maybe one of the lines is being stretched by a branch, who knows. This reminds me of my inital delaings with CD with separate converters and transports. The engineers didn't believe that differnet transports sounded different feediong the same dacs. After all, bits is bits. They measured the same but they didn't know about jitter which explained alot. Now they do. Brett should keep an open mind. I would love to meet with him. let me know. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs: | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia JWhip, I PM'd you over on the AVS Forum. Let me know if you want to stop by on Tuesday.
You might want to grab a 'free' basic account over here. enables IM/PM'ing and all. Join the group..
Thanks ! | |
| 
Nezmo
The name's Bond. James Bond.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-11-10
Coppell, TX
| I've been foloowing this issue even though I am no where near you guys and have no issues of my own. You'll have to pardon my ignorance with the technology... I wonder if you have something as basic as a bad stretch of cable somewhere - I mean the fiber cable outside. Then again, I would assume that would affect data too... And, that would not tie-in with the fact you saw this suddenly kick in after May. I was just thinking out loud.
--
My Gallery
Formerly Nezmo | |
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See 54 replies to this post | |
VFSampa4
join:2005-05-02
Phoenixville, PA
2 edits | I have been sitting on the side reading all of these problems, as I too have been having problems, with time on the phone and some tech visits. But I must admit my problem is not as bad as other are having, and the funny thing is my problem only happens in the morning hours 6 Am to 10 AM. I finally got a tech name James who took my problem serious and says it is not in my home. I had one system tech tell me that the problem was related to my house wiring, I asked why didn't the problem occur when I had DirecTV? Anyways what James did was bring out a TV and hook both the TV and the ONT to an generate, so he could eliminate my electric and the quess what the problem was still there. Verizon has been giving me a monthly credit but I said I don't care about the credit but prefer to have a good picture.
I must give James a pat on the back as he has been the only person who follows through with what he says. He calls me on a regular basis to update me. As yesterday he says he beleives the problem is with a piece of fiber going into a hub, as he sees what he calls a "Kink" that causes him concern, becasue he believes the glass inside might be damage. He now has someone coming out to look at it, but he said if the cable needs replaced it might take awhile.
He believes more people are effective but becasue it is only happening in the morning hours the number of people actually seeing it might be down, and those that see it might not be calling in becasue it clears up by 10 AM. Which he kind of said the importance that when people have a problem espcially a slight one that they call in and just don't assume that Verizon knows of it, becasue other peolpe might have reported it.
We shall see what happens. | |
| nhey
Premium
join:2005-11-19
Trenton, NJ
| This is all very concerning. This shows me that their wonderful network can have picture quality issues that are very hard to diagnose related to the hardware. I can imagine how many homes have picture quality programs that don't even realize it. All this big rush to hook up as many people as possible may be leading to some slipshod fiber placements.
Regarding the messages above, it doesn't make sense that a problem due to hardware should rear it's ugly head only during certain times of the day. If there's a "kink" or whatever in the fiber lines causing the problem, the problem should always be there unless the hardware problem is affected by the number of users currently connecting. | |
| | tedhowe
join:1999-07-22
West Chester, PA
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by nhey :This is all very concerning. This shows me that their wonderful network can have picture quality issues that are very hard to diagnose related to the hardware. I don't see the difficulty to diagnose as a concern. It's new technology and there are very few people who will REALLY understand the ins and outs of it technically to "easily" diagnose the problem right now.
I'm sure the same could have been said years ago when the Hybrid Fiber/Coax used by cable companies was in its infancy. Now most of those issues are pretty well known (i.e. which symptom points to which part of the network as having issues).
The thing that has concerned me is that essentially Matt's situation came down to a "head in the sand" reaction. Verizon ended up saying "there's no problem".
That is unacceptable if the picture is as he has described. | |
| | | JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia said by tedhowe :said by nhey :This is all very concerning. This shows me that their wonderful network can have picture quality issues that are very hard to diagnose related to the hardware. I don't see the difficulty to diagnose as a concern. It's new technology and there are very few people who will REALLY understand the ins and outs of it technically to "easily" diagnose the problem right now. I'm sure the same could have been said years ago when the Hybrid Fiber/Coax used by cable companies was in its infancy. Now most of those issues are pretty well known (i.e. which symptom points to which part of the network as having issues). The thing that has concerned me is that essentially Matt's situation came down to a "head in the sand" reaction. Verizon ended up saying "there's no problem". That is unacceptable if the picture is as he has described. I agree with you. This is still new technology. There's gotta be a learning curve on their part for diagnosing problems. Any new system is going to have this. There's one thing that they really can't take into account in the lab - environmental impacts on the fiber. Oh, they can do SOME testing on it (see how it performs in high heat...), but there's nothing like a good roll-out to really exploit weeknesses in the system.
When I had problems with pixelation with VOD, every CSR I called had a different theory as to what the problem could be. One guy was a former DirecTV installer, and agreed with me that the most likely culprit was a bad (or badly installed) coax from the router to the splitter. He remarked on the havok that could be wrought when the shielding isn't placed correctly on the cable. All of the theories sounded reasonable - and it turned out that the problem was that the ONT needed to be rebooted. They weren't just "guessing" - they were taking an educated stab, based on their respective backgrounds, as to what could cause the symptoms that I was seeing. | |
| VFSampa4
join:2005-05-02
Phoenixville, PA | To nhey
I agree that a "kink" should cause problems all the time and why does that 'kink" not cause problems with the phone or the internet as they work just fine. Whatever he means I hope it leads to a resolution. We shall see. | |
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KA3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium
join:2006-01-17
West Chester, PA
clubs:
·Cricket Broadband
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Most modern fiber cables are of a 'loose tube' design, that lets the fiber have a little wiggle room inside the cable jacket.
But if there is a sharp kink, a slight movement could make the difference between the cable working or not.
The aramid armor around the actual fibers, and the polyethylene outer jacket do still expand and contract with temperature changes.
So, in theory, if there is a kink in the fiber, but it is still working normally, general thermal expansion could increase the bend radius only a few degrees more, and cause a high amount of loss at that point.
Thus rendering the cable usless. But when it cools back off at night, the bend eases, and everything's back in business.
But in my case I see it on and off all hours of the day and night, so I can't rule it out, but I doubt that is what is causing the problem. | |
| njchoochoo
Premium
join:2007-06-21
Atco, NJ
| Well...I am done. I just got off the phone with a level something manager at Verizon concerning my poor SD/HD PQ issues. One of the techs I had here saw it as well, and the next step was to run a temporary cable to the house to see if it would help. That idea was nixed since all the levels are ok at my house, without and pre or post errors. The tech. saw the reduced quality, but the work here inside to the ONT is done. The manager at the garage I spoke told me that "a business decision" has been made, and that there was nothing else he could do since the readings are ok at my house. The techs did everything from cabling to replacing the ONT 3 times (1 ONT was defective from the start), and it did not help the PQ. So, the fact that a business decision has been made tells me that even though something else possibly could have be done, nothing will be. Had I been told that there was nothing else that could be done, I would have accepted that and probably waited it out and saw what happened down the road. But being told that it's a "business decision", that's enough for me. Good luck with your problems. I hope that you folks are able to get things worked out to your satisfaction. I was not. | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE | Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia Wow NJ-
When did your issues begin happening?
--
"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" | |
| | | njchoochoo
Premium
join:2007-06-21
Atco, NJ
| Re: Continuing Picture Quality Degredation In Philadelphia The day I had the service installed, June 1. I was "the" first person in the area to have fios installed. From the day it went in, I felt that both the HD/SD PQ was not nearly as sharp/crisp as my cable provider. I understand that the service is new and needs some time, but this episode really ticked me off. Anyway, I know what I'll tell people when I'm asked about their TV service. | |
|
noping
no route to host
Premium
join:2007-01-09
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | I have been told by a Verizon representative that the issues I am having regarding "poor image quality on SD channels" will be "resolved with the release of the new IMG this summmer, according to one of our network engineers." Also, that my problem "may or may not be the same issue that certain users on DSLR are experiencing." Or something to that effect, I was zoning in and out during the call. I attempted to explain that I was not experiencing "shifting" (turning a lighter shade, then back to normal) and "fuzziness" before the weekend of 5/20.
So, maybe someone can explain this to me, seeing as how I'm just a lowly consumer, not a "Verizon NETWORK ENGINEER, WE KNOW MORE THAN YOU, SILLY CUSTOMERS"-person. Current STB software + FIOS TV (before 5/20) = no fuzziness. Current STB software + FIOS TV (after 5/20) = fuzziness. Thus, wait for the new IMG to fix image quality since it's the old software that's the cause of the problem (???)
Erm...
/bangs head against wall, repeatedly | |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE
·Verizon FIOS
4 edits | Re: Incoherent babbling follows That is the "excuse answer" that is being given to us - it is taken from Chapter 1, Verse 1 of the book of Brettology.
We're not going to look for the problem - we'll just make you wait 2 months (yeah, that's when it "might" roll out) and then mask it with the new software - then they'll have something new to blame.
Oops - probably wasn't supposed to say that, either.
Wait - why am I still caring about this when i'm at the shore? Grrrr... | |
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matcarl
join:2007-03-09
Franklin Square, NY
| I never heard of such a stupid answer, how would a new interface make the picture quality change? They just want you to wait and get used to what you are seeing and they have no answer as to what it is. I guess all the rest of us that aren't living near you who have the same interface then should be seeing the same bad picture, but we are not. | |
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CeeZee
join:2007-04-11
Wynnewood, PA
| Re: Incoherent babbling follows It makes zero sense.
But to disprove it (or to prove it from their point of view), they should be able to send you the new IMG immediately. No reason why you'd need to wait for the overall release. After all, several folks have been beta-testing it for a long time. | |
| 
DDude26
join:2007-01-11
Manville, NJ
| wow. already got to page 7..
i really feel sorry for u guys...
if the shitty picture quality comes here to northern nj. i'll tell you this, shit's going to hit the fan.
verizon needs to clean up their act and get everything fixed.
i'm not going back to analog tv that we had before.
this is a great summer for verizon already. i guess nobody can take a vacation yet. | |
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DDude26
join:2007-01-11
Manville, NJ
| "your tv doesn't work very well with our FIOS"
"its not a network issue, its at your house!"
"we've been getting crappy weather lately"
"its the channel provider fault, not us!"
"uhhh.... is your tv on?"
"use your s-video connection, it'll work!"
"we'll replace your actionteck and ont free of a charge!"
what's next verizon?? no more excuses! get the job done! | |
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DTVsux4sure
@verizon.net
| I find it amazing that more people haven't joined this thread as dissatisfied fios tv customers. As a matter of fact I haven't seen any other fios tv forum threads that complain about pq problems in PA, DE or anywhere else. Or incompatible tvs for that matter.
Makes me wonder just how "widespread" the problem is.
Or could it be a couple of Dish, DTV or Comcast employees who fear the inevitable?????
Hmmmmm.................Very strange indeed. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
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